


Father's Day

by andipxndy



Series: Life Beyond the War [8]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Gen, a million times better than the original imo, felt the urge to rewrite this, finishes off on some cute percabeth, in which my canon says jason ain't dead, original on ff.net, percy deserved better than a stressful childhood, poseidon actually trying to be a good dad, rewrite of an old fic, whoops not exactly posting on father's day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andipxndy/pseuds/andipxndy
Summary: Father's Day has never been the greatest of days for Percy Jackson. Since he's never really had a dad present, there's not really much for him to do on this day. But what happens when he gets a little surprise visit from his own dad?
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Poseidon
Series: Life Beyond the War [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/404884
Kudos: 104





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! Hope y'all are good! It's been forever since I actually wrote anything for this fandom, but hey ho, my brain decided it would be a good idea to jump back in by rewriting an old oneshot. You know when you have an old fic where you know there was something missing when you originally wrote it and now in the rewrite you've found exactly what was missing? Yeah, that's what happened here. (Being inside almost all the time doesn't help with this lol.)
> 
> ANYWAY here's the rewrite of my fic, Father's Day! One of my faves to write originally, tbh, and I'm pretty pleased with the rewrite too! Enjoy, guys!
> 
> Originally written: 21/06/2015  
> Rewritten & edited: 25/08/2020

Father’s Day.

Ever since he’d been a child, the day had pretty much been the same ordeal for Percy Jackson. He sat at home, maybe asked a question or two about what his dad had been like from what his mom could remember, maybe got mocked by some of the neighbourhood kids for not having a dad around to celebrate the day with. He’d never really known about his dad around growing up – at least, he hadn’t until he was twelve, when he found out he was actually the son of a powerful Greek god. And even then, he hadn’t really had the chance to wish his dad a “Happy Father’s Day” at all unless he was praying to him, or burning him a sacrifice, and _funnily enough_ that wasn’t the same as having a dad who was present and around enough to actually say it to.

When his mother had eventually got married to Paul (and, you know, became Jackson-Blofis), Percy supposed it was nice to actually have someone to say “Happy Father’s Day” to. He had someone to get a card for (a nice big one that made his mom smile too); someone to help his mom make breakfast for in the mornings ( _not_ blue, unfortunately); and even someone to hang out, have a chat with, and even make gifts for (with Annabeth’s help, of course). It was nice to have some sort of father figure around to look up to.

That lasted about… two years, maybe a year and a half, before his half-sister Estelle was born. Of course, Paul was still his pretty awesome step-dad (and would be as long as he and his mom were married), but it wasn’t exactly the same when he had a little sister around who could actually celebrate the day with Paul by making him gifts and drawing him pictures. If anything, his mom and step-dad seemed to focus more on making sure she celebrated the day with Paul, bringing back projects and pictures from school for him.

So, as expected, Percy decided to throw himself into literally everything _but_ Father’s Day when it came around once a year. He’d thought his childhood without a dad around was bad, but now that he was an adult it was almost as if he was made more aware about the situation he was in. Whilst every other guy in his classes was hanging out with their parents or step-parents to celebrate having a dad (or a father figure) who was around a lot and cared, he was busy throwing himself into his studies, maybe giving Paul a quick call in the morning to wish him a “Happy Father’s Day” before getting on with it. More often than not, he found himself heading to the labs to get some extra credit work done, which none of his professors even questioned (he was actually coming to realise that his professors might actually _like_ him doing the extra credit work), whilst Annabeth took the day off and headed out of New Rome to visit her dad for the weekend, and spend some time with him. He was pretty lonely when she left, sure, but he preferred that to having to answer who and where his dad was, and who he looked up to as a father figure – even though he was surrounded by demigods and legacies all the time.

It was one such Father’s Day (which just so happened to be the year he’d managed to _graduate_ and so he had no work to do whilst he was still job-hunting) where Percy found himself just laying in bed, hand up towards the ceiling as he stared at the silver and Imperial gold band around his ring finger.

When he’d met up for coffee with his friends a couple of days before, they’d all told him about what they would be doing on the day, and how they would all be spending the day with their families. Percy had just smiled when he was asked what he was going to do – after all, he didn’t exactly have anything to do for the day. He knew Annabeth would be heading out of town to see her dad. Heck, even Nico said his dad had invited him down for a couple of hours to spend time with him in his oh-so-wonderful palace (no jabs at Hades there – obsidian was a wonderful material to build from).

“Perce?”

Percy looked away from his hand to see his wife stood at the door, leaning on the door frame with a slight smile on her face and a gentle twinkle in her eyes. She looked almost amused to find her husband in that position.

“What?” he grumbled, sounding almost like the angsty teen he had once been. He couldn’t miss the not-so-subtle roll of Annabeth’s eyes at his behaviour, but the man wasn’t quite sure he could bring himself to care.

“I’m heading off to see my dad,” she explained, and he spotted the weekend bag packed by her feet. As it was every year. When she didn’t say anything further, Percy realised she was probably expecting some sort of reply.

He sat up, a slight quizzical look on his face. “Have a great time…?” he offered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him again, and Percy was half-tempted to tell her that her eyes would fall out of her head if she kept doing that. “I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me this year, since you haven’t exactly got any work to do and applications for the job op in the bay area don’t open up until August.”

Percy just flopped back onto the bed, hoping that would be enough of an answer to her query. He didn’t need to look at her to see the scowl on her face.

“You know, if you just went for that part time job at the café, you wouldn’t be stuck here doing nothing—”

“Thanks for the reminder, honey.”

He heard her moving about, grabbing her stuff. “You’re the one moping about on Father’s Day.”

He pulled his arm up to rest it over his eyes. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

She moved about a bit more, grabbing her things, and he registered her approaching him and landing a soft peck on his lips before the bedroom door, and then the front door to their apartment, closed. Percy just continued to lay there, arm over his eyes as he listened to his wife leave and then heard the sounds of people walking about on the street below, chatting with friends and family, laughing and generally making plans, from what he could hear. He continued to lay there for a few more minutes, before finally deciding to move his arm and at least attempt to get up and have a relatively normal day. If he got out of bed, he could at least try to do something productive, like read, or… _read_ , or…

He let out a groan, running a hand over his face tiredly. Gods, he was so bored that he even wanted to _read_.

“Married one year and it feels like we’ve been married for ten,” he muttered, though there was the smallest of smiles on his face as he sat up fully. Having dated Annabeth for a good while before eventually getting married, it made sense that their behaviours rubbed off on each other. And, he supposed, reading was… relaxing sometimes. If it was in Greek.

Rubbing his hands over his face to wake himself up a little more, he patted his cheeks, taking a deep breath, before getting to his feet and heading into the bathroom to freshen up at least a little. Having such a long lie in that day meant that he wasn’t quite ready for the day, but he could at least try and do _something_ productive if he didn’t have any studying to do.

If it didn’t take his mind off the fact that he didn’t really have a father to celebrate the day with, it would certainly take his mind off the nightmares he’d had the night before.

* * *

The following morning, after yet another troubled night of sleeping, Percy glanced up from the paper to the coffee maker with a sigh, hoping to whichever god had claimed the creation of coffee that the machine would _hurry up_. Maybe Hermes had claimed it. He was literally on the move all the time. Anyone like that would need a near constant supply of coffee to keep them going.

With the way Annabeth worked literally all day and stayed up almost all night to get extra work done, the coffee machine had been a blessing of a wedding gift.

A smile grew on his face as coffee started emptying from the machine into his mug (a bright blue mug with a little clownfish painted on the side, made for him as a birthday present about a year before by his own little sister; what a gem she was), and he waited for what felt like at least a minute before getting up, leaving his paper open on the legion page where he’d been updating himself on what was actually going on in the legion (considering Frank had retired from the legion but Hazel was still running the show, he liked to keep up with how his friends were doing). He was just grabbing the mug and about to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar when he heard a knock on the door. Pausing with the teaspoon halfway to his mug, a frown grew on his face, and he dumped the sugar in his mug, stirring.

He hadn’t buzzed anyone up. Maybe they’d got the wrong door or something. Maybe if he didn’t answer the door, they’d realise their mistake and leave him alone to try and survive through his day.

When there was a second knock, he realised that that wasn’t what was going to happen. A third knock just made him roll his eyes and put his coffee mug down on the table just next to his paper, and head to the door to hopefully tell whoever was there that they had the wrong door and should probably try someone else’s so that he could continue his day in peace.

As soon as he opened the door and realised who it was, he realised that he probably wasn’t going to continue his day in peace.

A man in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian t-shirt with flip-flops stood there, giving Percy the widest of grins. _Poseidon_.

Percy sent the man a short glare in response to the grin, which didn’t seem to deter or lessen the smile on the god’s face. “What are you doing here?” Percy asked, more than just a little bit of bite in his tone. He would blame it on the lack of good sleep the night before, and the fact that he had been disturbed in the middle of drinking his morning coffee.

Poseidon’s smile didn’t fade, his eyebrows instead rising at Percy’s reaction to his appearance. It wasn’t a secret that Percy was the one demigod who would talk back to the gods and get away with it (probably Poseidon’s fault), but the god was more used to seeing him use it against the likes of Zeus and Hera, not himself. Heck, he even recalled Percy using his rather sarcastic tongue against Apollo in his human form (though, really, Apollo hadn’t been able to do anything in that situation to punish Percy for his words). “So, what? No “hello” or, even more importantly, “ _Happy Father’s Day_ ”?” the god asked. “I would have thought you’d be pleased to see me.”

“Celebration of Father’s Day is for fathers who are _actually_ around enough to celebrate it,” Percy replied snarkily, rolling his eyes at the slight pout that then appeared on the god’s face.

“Oh come on, I heard even Lord Zeus gets a ‘ _Happy Father’s Day_ ’ prayer every year—”

“Are you really trying to compare yourself to Zeus?” Percy asked, voice and expression deadpan. The rumble in the sky the followed was enough to tell the demigod that he hadn’t been subtle enough with his sarcasm. Not that he really cared, of course – Zeus could take whatever sarcasm he threw his way and suck on it, for all he cared.

Poseidon seemed to consider his question for a few moments. “You… have a valid point. I’m not as much of an ass.”

Percy wanted to point out that that was clearly the understatement of the eon, but instead kept his mouth shut, folding his arms as he leaned on the doorframe, essentially blocking his father from walking in. Not that the god couldn’t, you know, just appear on the other side of the doorway. Because he was a god. “You know, you still haven’t answered my question: what are you doing here?” he demanded.

Instead of answering the question, Poseidon raised an eyebrow at Percy, leaning forward a little bit. “Aren’t you going to invite me in first?”

Percy started at the god for a few moments, wondering whether he was being serious. He’d literally just asked him why he was actually there, so that if he didn’t have a valid enough reason he could turn him away. But, then again, the god could literally just appear in the apartment if he wanted to. He didn’t need Percy to let him in.

But at least he was being polite about it.

Letting out a soft groan, Percy practically rolled off the doorframe, making enough space for Poseidon to walk into the apartment, and shut the door behind the god of the sea. Taking a few moments to, you know, breathe and let the reality of the situation sink in, Percy headed into the kitchen, not waiting for Poseidon to follow. He headed over to his spot at their small dining table, where his coffee and open morning paper sat, and grabbed the mug. It was still warm – good. “You want a coffee?” Percy asked, taking a sip from his mug. He was sure the machine had at least one more good serving left in it before he had to replace the coffee beans in it.

The god shook his head as he moved to sit at the seat opposite Percy’s at the small dining table. “A cappuccino?” the god asked.

“Coffee is coffee,” Percy responded as he continued to drink his own coffee.

Poseidon seemed to consider it for a moment, before giving Percy a shrug, leaning back in his seat. “Sure, why not?”

Percy was about to move over to the machine when he paused, narrowing his eyes at the god. “Are you going to drink it if I offer it to you?” he asked slowly, clearly not sure whether to trust the god before him.

Poseidon gave a little shrug. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Percy scowled at him, before moving over to the coffee machine anyway and getting his father a mug to drink from. After all, he may as well offer the god _something_ to drink. Plus, he was offering him a drink – he was technically being a good host, right? He sure hoped so.

As the second lot of coffee brewed and emptied into the navy blue windsurfing mug below it, Percy sighed, continuing to drink from his own mug and hope it woke him up enough for the day he was sure to be faced with. It really felt like it was going to be a long day. He turned to face Poseidon at the table as he waited for his father’s mug to fill.

“So, are you finally going to answer my question of what you’re actually doing here?” the demigod asked, trying to sound casual but still very much sounding irritated by the whole situation and how it was turning out.

Poseidon seemed to pause for a moment, the god of the sea properly thinking through his answer, before finally saying, “It’s Father’s Day, isn’t it?”

Percy had to try hard to stop himself from scowling at the god in frustration. All these years without him – he hadn’t even known he had a father who was alive until he was twelve, and since then the god has been “banned” from contacting him or interfering in his life (which was an absolute bullshit rule, in his very honest opinion). Which didn’t make sense because Hades interfered all the time.

But he wasn’t going to go down that path.

“Don’t you have any other children to conveniently ignore for years of their life before casually waltzing in and expecting to be welcomed with open arms?” Percy asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“I’ll have to check my “demigodly spawn” radar,” Poseidon replied with just as much sarcasm, and Percy rolled his eyes at him.

“Of course you do.”

“I would have thought you’d at least be glad to see me, after all this time conveniently ignoring you,” Poseidon pointed out using Percy’s own words, just as the coffee maker made a sound to signify it had finished brewing the coffee and was now filling the mug.

Percy turned towards the coffee maker, setting his own mug down on the counter. Was he glad to see Poseidon? He supposed a part of him was. After all, it made a change to spending all those Father’s Days without a father to actually celebrate it with – praying to the Greek god of the sea just wasn’t the same, really. Not when the people he was surrounded by tended to have dads that spent time with them on Father’s Day.

“A father shouldn’t conveniently ignore their child,” Percy commented casually as he picked up Poseidon’s now full mug and carried it over to where the god was sitting at the table, setting it down in front of him.

Poseidon watched Percy carefully, an unreadable expression on his face that unnerved the demigod a little. Actually, more than just a little.

“I’m glad you realise that. It’s important for you. After all… you should probably get more used to days like this.”

Percy didn’t bother concealing the look of confusion that appeared on his face as he slowly moved backwards to pick up his own mug. “What?”

Poseidon simply waved off his question as he picked up the mug of coffee to take a sip. “Never mind.”

Percy just continued to stare at him for a few moments, before deciding he was better off not questioning it and instead just taking a drink from his coffee. He moved back towards the small dining table, looking down at his mug awkwardly for a few moments before back up at Poseidon. What did they even talk about? More often than not, whatever they discussed in the past had to do with family business, and Percy had pretty much pulled himself out of that world since his senior year at high school. And he was pretty sure Poseidon hadn’t been watching anything on Netflix recently. “So, uh…” He set his mug down on the table, running his finger around the rim. “How’s… the Olympian council?” He regretted asking the question as soon as it came out of his mouth. What a _stupid_ thing to ask, Percy.

Poseidon stared at his demigod son for a few moments before eventually letting out a chuckle. “Oh, you know. It’s the same old thing it has been for millennia…”

Percy’s lips quirked up into a smirk as he took a sip from his mug. “So Zeus is the same old moody, temperamental god he’s always been.” He obviously wanted to use a word worse than “god”, but with how close the rumbling in the sky sounded he considered himself lucky that he hadn’t.

Poseidon actually laughed heartily at that. “It’s been millennia, Percy. He doesn’t change, and he probably never will.”

Percy was grinning now. “Okay, I’ll give you that.” He gave a little shrug. “But I guess family’s family, right? Especially when it comes to…” He pointed upwards, towards the ceiling.

“Oh, of course. Family doesn’t change.” People changed, but Percy knew that the god of the sea knew more than most that godly family didn’t change. The god looked out of the window. “I would suggest that we go for a walk, considering it’s a beautiful day, but…”

“But this is New Rome, and gods don’t pop up left, right and centre to spend time with their kids, even if it’s Father’s Day,” Percy finished with a sigh. “I know. And they’re not exactly all fond of you, either.”

Poseidon snorted, as if what Percy had just said was an understatement. “My temple has been horrific since the day they built it,” he muttered, taking another sip of his coffee.

Percy was honestly surprised that the god was still drinking that. “Jason improved your temple a little,” he offered. “And I kind of helped him out too. Freshened it up a little.”

Poseidon’s eyebrows rose. “You did?”

“Yeah. Jason made it a little bigger, I added some more decorations, and people actually pray in it now.”

“That’s nice.” Percy got the distinct feeling that Poseidon (or rather, Neptune) had forgotten about his basically abandoned temple. “How is Jason, by the way?”

“He’s alright.” Percy frowned a little at him. “You could probably zap right to him to find out yourself.”

Poseidon scoffed at Percy as he took another sip of his coffee. “I could, but aren’t we having a conversation?”

Percy rolled his eyes at Poseidon. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good. So, he’s doing Law, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is…” Percy glanced out of the window, taking a good look at the weather. It was lovely weather, honestly, and he put down his mug as he heard groups of people walking about outside. “Are you sure we can’t… you know?”

Poseidon watched Percy for a few moments, before shaking his head with a chuckle. “Alright, fine. But let me finish my coffee first.”

Percy’s nose scrunched up. “You actually like the stuff?”

“It’s decent.” Poseidon’s eyebrow rose. “You don’t?”

Percy scoffed out a laugh before taking a swig of his coffee. “Please – for the past few years, I’ve been drinking it to survive.”

* * *

Walking out of the apartment building, Percy began to lead Poseidon down the street, though soon enough the god had caught up to him and was walking beside him as they chatted. What about? Anything and everything that came to mind – Percy’s education and how he’d finished his degree, Atlantis and how his father’s work on adding a new wing to the underwater palace was going, how he and Annabeth were doing, the latest in Olympian politics. You know, the usual things. And the entire time they walked, no one really looked their way – they looked like a simple family spending Father’s Day afternoon walking around and having a conversation. Nothing particularly special stood out about them, though if anyone looked closely they’d probably recognise the god walking along beside his demigod son.

Eventually, the two of them reached the temples, and Percy found himself leading Poseidon towards Neptune’s temple. Somewhere along the way, Percy didn’t realise it, Poseidon had somehow changed into Neptune and was walking a little ways behind the demigod, his beard longer and that little bit greyer and the god dressed that little bit smarter, switching from shorts to khaki trousers and a button-up short-sleeved shirt. Sunglasses still sat on the top of his head, holding back his salt-and-pepper hair, but he looked a whole lot more professional now with the outfit and loafers.

Stepping into the temple, Percy almost did a double-take when he saw what his father had turned into. “U-uh, Lord Neptune, how are you—”

“Perseus,” the Roman god cut in, a small smile on his weathered face. He then looked around at the refurbished temple, which was significantly larger than the shack it had previously been. Built from marble and polished limestone, the pillars were glorious, and their footsteps clacked against the marble floor. The various statues, coupled with the shrine at the end, weren’t as much as Jupiter’s temple, but it was still grand in its own little way. Even the little dinghy in the corner added its own character to the temple.

“Perseus, the temple is wonderful.” The god had wandered to stand by the shrine and was now in front of it, turned to face Percy who was stood awkwardly near to the entrance. “I thank you and Jason for your hard work. You truly know how to honour the gods – even if they don’t impress you enough to deserve the respect they expect from you.” He gave the demigod a knowing look.

Percy laughed awkwardly, rubbing the side of his neck. “Yeah, I… well, you deserved it. You do as much for Olympus as the rest of the Olympians – you deserve a temple that looks as good as everyone else’s. So I, you know, volunteered to help Jason out with your temple.”

Neptune nodded, a smile on his face. Percy couldn’t tell whether the god was pleased with him for helping out with the temple, or simply pleased that he had a temple that actually looked presentable for a god.

And then he said something that surprised the demigod.

“Even when family don’t treat you in the best of manners, you have a way of showing that you care that is very admirable. Something that is very valuable in anyone, and more so in a parent.”

Percy blinked, his brows furrowing. “Uh… thanks? My, uh… my mom taught me to be this way.”

Neptune nodded. “Good. Keep and use the knowledge.” He glanced upwards. “My time is up. I need to go back to Olympus.” He approached the demigod, placing a hand on his shoulder as soon as he was close enough. “Thank you for the pleasant day, Perseus. And good luck.”

Percy swore he saw a glimpse of cheerful Poseidon in Neptune’s eyes as he winked, before looking away and shutting his eyes. A blast of warmth and a sea breeze later, and Percy opened his eyes to find his godly father gone, leaving him alone in Neptune’s temple. The demigod took in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he got a whiff of the still-lingering sea breeze in the air and smiling.

Even though his father had barely been around in his life… he still managed to show that he cared. And he supposed that that was what he had to remember, even as he left the temple and headed slowly back to his apartment.

* * *

When he got back, Percy couldn’t remember doing anything but wandering straight to bed, landing face down and drifting off into a nap. The next thing he remembered was the feeling of hands running through his hair – a little rough and calloused from years of weapon-wielding and sketching, but definitely the recognisable hands of his wife. Turning his head, he cracked one eye open to see her sat beside him, her blonde curls pinned up and a tired smile on her face. The dimness of the light on the walls told him it was evening, and he frowned a little. Annabeth didn’t usually get back until late.

He slowly lifted his head, blinking heavily to get rid of any sleep in his eyes and bringing up a hand to wipe the drool from his chin (yeah… he still did that). The chuckle he heard coming from Annabeth earned his wife a playful scowl.

“So I’m guessing you didn’t have a productive weekend?” she teased, running her hand through his hair one last time before kissing him softly on the forehead. Percy absently registered the minty smell that came from Annabeth’s mouth, but didn’t think much of it as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Thinking back to what he had done earlier that day, Percy gave a smile. “It was productive, in a way.” The chats he’d had with Poseidon were nice – the first proper extended father-son interaction they’d had in years.

Annabeth’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Oh, really? What did you do instead of studying this year?” she asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

“Well,” Percy drew his legs up onto the bed so that he was sitting cross-legged, and turned to face her. She copied his posture, her eyebrows still raised in interest. “My dad came over.”

Annabeth’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “Your dad? Lord Poseidon?”

“Yeah. And then Neptune.”

“Wait what? He switched?”

“By the end of his visit, yeah.”

Annabeth stared at her husband for a few moments, before eventually chuckling. “Gods… the god of the sea? In New Rome?”

Percy let out his own laugh. “Yeah. Strange, right?”

“Yeah, it really is…” She gave a little shrug. “But I guess the gods are unpredictable, right? We’ve seen it happen enough times.”

“That’s true.” Percy ran a hand through his own hair. “It was nice, though, which was weird. We had a proper chat. It was… well, different from what you expect from a god. They’re not exactly the most touchy-feely beings.”

Both of them were quiet, listening out for the sound of thunder that usually accompanied comments like that, but when none followed they were pleasantly surprised.

“So you had a good time with your dad, then?”

“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “How was your weekend? Family good?”

“Yeah, everyone’s good,” Annabeth said, a slightly nervous smile on her face. Percy glanced towards the window, and then back at her.

“Are you sure? You’re back earlier than usual,” he noted, frowning at her again. “It’s usually dark out by the time you get back.”

“I was feeling a little off, so I decided to come back early,” she explained, before moving to get off the bed.

Percy’s frown just deepend. “Off? Are you okay? Do we need to call a doctor or something?” When she stopped to seriously consider that option, Percy got up to follow her. “Annabeth? What’s wrong? How bad are you fe—”

“I got you something on the way back,” she cut in quickly, grabbing something she’d left on the dresser and holding it out to him. Percy just stared at the envelope she was holding out to him. It was a little bulky, but that only made him curious (and a little worried) about what she could have possibly got him on her way home from seeing her family on Father’s Day. Hesitantly, he took the “gift”, sliding his finger under the flap and ripping it open to see what was inside.

Two gifts sat inside the folded paper. The first, for some weird reason, was some sort of plastic stick wrapped in cling film. Dropping it on the bed without really looking at it, he moved quickly onto the second gift, raising his eyebrow at it.

A Father’s Day card.

“Did you accidentally give me something that was meant for your dad, or—”

“No,” Annabeth cut in, “it’s meant for you.”

Percy didn’t have a clue why a Father’s Day card would be meant for him, but he decided to humour his wife and open it anyway, reading what was written inside.

_Happy Father’s Day, Seaweed Brain!  
Love, Your wife/fellow parent-to-be_

_Parent-to-be_? Percy turned to look at the item he’d casually dropped on the bed in haste to read the card, recognising exactly what Annabeth had wrapped up and put in the envelope.

The little “ _Pregnant_ ” on it only served to make Percy’s heartrate speed up, words that he’d been confused about Poseidon telling him earlier suddenly making sense:

_It’s important for you. After all… you should probably get more used to days like this._

Days like this.

Father’s Day.

His eyes slowly rose to meet Annabeth, and for the first time that evening he recognised the look in her eyes for what it really was.

Excitement.

A huge grin spread over his face as he dropped both the card and the test on the bed, wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around as they laughed. “Oh my gods, we’re gonna be parents! We’re gonna be—when did you find out?” His brows furrowed a little as he set her down, though he still had traces of his grin on his face.

“On my way home,” she explained, leaning over and giving him a peck on the lips. “I wasn’t feeling too great at dad’s, and someone was nagging me mentally to get a test…”

Both of them chuckled as they looked upwards, knowing it was probably one of a handful of gods who had done exactly that. Some gods just couldn’t keep their noses out of someone else’s business.

“Well, to celebrate,” Percy started, cupping her cheeks in his hands and pecking her on the nose, “I think we should treat ourselves.”

Annabeth’s eyes lit up “Takeout and blankets?”

“Takeout and blankets,” he agreed, “with a healthy serving of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.”

“Nuh-uh, my movie choice this time.”

Percy’s eyes narrowed at her. “You’re not gonna choose something that’ll make my brain hurt, are you?”

Annabeth just gave him a grin, before spinning out of his arms and heading out of the room. “I’ll pick the movie, you order the takeout!” she called back.

Percy stared after her for a few moments, his grin from earlier growing again on his face.

He loved his wife.

And he was going to love their child so damn much.

“Let me see what movie you pick before you set it up without telling me the title!” he called out as he followed her out of the room. Hey, if this was going to be his last Father’s Day alone with just him and Annabeth, he wasn’t going to let her scar it with a film that made his brain melt.


End file.
